Paul Tonko: “Let me share a perspective with you, Representative Garamendi. And I know we've talked about this, but we'll share it…”

“Let me share a perspective with you, Representative Garamendi. And I know we've talked about this, but we'll share it for the sake of those viewing the discussion this evening on the House floor. My district has been severely impacted by the ravages of the waters of Irene and then with the one-two punch, if you will, when the Tropical Storm Lee wreaked devastating damage upon the upstate New York area, certainly in Pennsylvania and in Massachusetts, in Vermont, in Connecticut, to name a few, and then even into the Southeast with the Carolinas. But if ever you wanted to see a snapshot of change from just hours' worth, people were disconnected from their neighborhood, farmers who had to pour milk into the waters, the ravaging waters, because they had no connection to the outside world, roads wiped away by the force of water, bridges discontinued, rail systems knocked out, rail stopped until they could reconstruct that rail line. That pointed out with such significant measure, in such significant measure, in very bold terms, the value of infrastructure.…”